painting a real car

[myunghoon]

how many of you have prepped and painted real cars?

are the steps the same? priming...painting...polishing with wet 'n dry...?

i imagine it'd be a bit more work having to remove parts, and such, but fairly similar. please tell me how it is.

thanks.

[v3rs3]

I have. Well first you sand down the whole car, then you tack it, then you put a prep solevant on the car, then you primer it. Then after primer you tack it then you CAN apply a sealer, you're supposed to at least. Then you prep sol again then paint, then sand down, then clear, then wet sand, then sometimes clear again, then rubbing compound.

I go to tech school and have taken Auto body before.

[myunghoon]

what's tacking it?
what's prep solvent?
tacking again?
what's sealer?
what's clearing?

what's the difference between a good paint job, and a crappy paint job? like...how come some paint jobs cost 250 while others cost 2500?

[Leon L]

Hi,

I'm based in the UK so I think a few of the terms may be different from those used in America, but basically "tacking" is the use of a "tack rag" (a sticky cloth) that you wipe all over the surfaces to be painted just prior to spraying. This picks up all the dust, grime and so on from the body surface.
I would assume "prep solvent" is what we call "panel wipe" - basically a solvent that acts as a degreaser to prepare the surface prior to final tacking.
No idea what "clearing" is, in the UK "clearing" is what you go through if you get insufficient grades to take your chosen university course

Anyway....

Assuming the paint is reasonably sound, and you have removed all the trim, you don't have to go back to bare metal. Use 150 grit, progressing up to 240 to get a good surface key for the primer.

Apply primer (three coats, leaving 10 minutes between each) and rub down with 800 the next day by hand.

Wipe down the body with panel wipe

Wipe down the body with a tack rag

Mix & apply three top coats, don't get any runs!

Allow to harden and then rub down with 1200 used wet and soapy.

Wipe down with a cloth and apply rubbing compound

Polish off with a sponge mop, keep the sponge moist with compound

Remove any masking and polish by hand


I think that's *basically* it.

Well, that's one way of getting my first post over and done with!

[chrismcgee]

clearing means to "clear coat" with a translucent top coat, it can either be a tinted clear to produce a candy colour or just plain clear.

Metalics must have a clear coat to attain their shine and reflectiveness

[Leon L]

Originally Posted by chrismcgee

clearing means to "clear coat" with a translucent top coat, it can either be a tinted clear to produce a candy colour or just plain clear.

Metalics must have a clear coat to attain their shine and reflectiveness

Ahhhhh, lacquering!

[chrismcgee]

yup thats the puppy, lol.

so where abouts in the uk are you leonl?

there seem to be a few more uk people here now. still proably less than 15 tho?

[myunghoon]

i see i see...

but what's the difference between a really expensive paint job, and a really cheap paint job?

[Integra14]

yea, im very interested in things like this

my bro asked me to paint his rear and/or front bumper.. but im not sure the necessary tools i will need and where i can buy paint.....


i have a 2 gallon copmressor.. max: 100psi

this will work correct>?


gravity/bottle feed spray gun at a reasonable price???
Paint at a reasonable price?
Clearcoat and primer cost?

[airforceone]

The difference between cheap paint jobs and expensive paint jobs is quality, and the amount of work that goes into the prep and paint. Macco and Earl Schieb can paint cars for less than $500 because they don't do the sme amount of prep and paint as other custom shops. If you go with a cheap paint job, there tends to be overspray on the chassis and such. They don't remove parts, they only tape over them which can lead to overspray on trim pieces and such. Custom paint jobs usually will dismantle the car to a point and paint pieces individually, which offers better, more even coverage of the paint. Usually, people looking to sell a car or with tight budgets go with the Macco paint jobs, but for show cars and such, custom paint is the way to go.

[jswillmon]

the diffrence between the $250 paint job and a $2500 paint job is about 15 years!!! I have seen many people get a car painted for a couple hundred dollars and in 2 years paint cracks on sharp edges, pulls up around keyholes and handles and sometimes even air bubbles appear on the hood b/c of engine heat........worst case i've seen is when my friend had his Mazda 626 painted for $149 at some hole in the wall in town and 6 months later he was buffing some scratches from his hood with a low speed orbital and it went straight down to the primer within less than a minute.
Basically when it comes to a finish on a car you get what you pay for......the more expensive devote more time to your ride and use the best products.

[008]

Those cheap jobs don't even prime the car. They take the existing paint, scuff it down with sandpaper, wipe it down with panel prep, then tape & shoot. Some will even clearcoat (er, lacquer) it for you for a small extra fee. It's good enough for a car you're getting rid of but don't want to sell it with the faded, bubbly, peeling original paint. You can strip the paint from those paint jobs using a high power air nozzle.

I use paints from a friend's body shop for my models, and they require a clearcoat because it's a 2 part system. I used to paint cars in the early 1990s and it's amazing how different things are today. I recently stripped the paint off of my '67 Mustang that we painted in 1991, and the bottom layer was still soft! And you thought Testors enamels took long to dry.